Stitching Wounds
by Charlett
Summary: Jade hears a cry of distress during the night, and a Colonel is instantly obliged to rush to a Malkuthian's aid. Without Tear's consent, Anise heads off after Jade, and after the battle, the Necromancer is left to stitch up a warrior's wounds.


My good friend Noirrac ( noirrac dot deviantart dot com ) had asked this from me even before I bought ToA. Then I knew I had to do it as I picked it up. I finally beat Dist's mechanics for the first time (Diiiiiiiistuh... ) ), and finally decided "you know, beating around the bush is dumb. I'll just throw something together and show it to her.

Noirrac was a GODSEND. She gave me ideas on how to improve, seeing as how none of the characters' personalities had been totally ingrained in my head yet. She told me if Jade seemed OOC and other things along those lines. I love her even more now.

Now that THAT'S over with, the request Noi' had given me was to "Write some Jade+Anise Friendship Fluff", and I delivered. Tokunaga is Noi's favorite character (YES... the puppet. Don't laugh), so I let him weasle into the story as a main character. Hehehe, just wait and see...

Thanks for reading the beginning, another shoutout thanks to Noi' for helping me with her OWN REQUEST. And now, without further ado:

READ ON!

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Tales of the Abyss:  
Stitching Wounds

Three minutes, twenty-seven seconds. Colonel Jade Curtiss the Necromancer of the Third Division Malkuth Imperial Forces thought that it was a decent amount of time to keep ones eyes open before having to blink them. When keeping awake, he found that the best thing to do was to challenge himself to a staring game. He'd choose an amount of time, and try to keep his eyes open for that long. It wasn't five minutes… but it was… decent. _Keep counting…_ Jade murmured, taking off his glasses, wiping them off with his handkerchief and reapplying them, _Just keep counting…_

A sound came from the others who were sleeping around the dying embers of the group's fire. Jade turned slightly to see a yawning Anise, who was rubbing her eyes, "Couldn't sleep?" The colonel asked.

"Gotta use the bathroom…" The Fon Guardian grumbled, wrapping Tokunaga around her neck and trudging off towards the bushes. Jade would have reminded any other girl her age to keep a close distance to the group, but not Anise. She could take care of herself. She was Anise, after all. He returned to the watch. This time, he'd try for four minutes and forty-five seconds.

He only got to three and forty, but that was because of a feminine cry that erupted from a little ways away from the camp. Jade snapped out of his self induced stupor and stood quickly. He quickly deduced that it wasn't coming from the direction Anise had walked off to, but it WAS a cry of distress… in Malkuth lands… which meant that as a soldier he was immediately obligated to check on the matter. He licked his drying lips, and turned to Tear, who was sleeping on the floor, while Luke slept against a tree and Ion was curled up next to the colonel's legs with a contented sigh. Guy, on the other hand, was leaning against one of the trees, standing straight up as if he were awake. Tear and Guy were the only two he could trust with watching the place in his stead. Dropping down, he quickly shook the woman awake. She turned slightly, murmuring a question that was unintelligible.

Jade explained himself quickly and quietly, "There was a cry of distress just a moment ago. Anise is… away from the camp at the moment. I will be checking on the matter myself. If you would…"

Tear was already wide awake. It was a skill she had learned from her training as an Oracle Knight, and she nodded, "Right. I'll take the watch in your stead," She said, understanding completely the situation he was in, "Do you want me to alert Guy as well?"

Jade didn't answer. He simply wiped himself off and walked towards the sound. Tear figured the colonel was sure of his abilities, but she wasn't so sure that he could handle himself. He had only had his Fonic Artes sealed recently by that God-General, Largo… She turned to see Guy, sleeping soundly but alertly, his arms crossed as he snored slightly. She continued to debate on whether she should awaken him or not. Gynophobic or not, Jade could land himself in serious trouble. However, he would probably cry like a little girl if she got near him, so she finally decided not to awaken the swordsman. She also didn't want to drag Luke into the battle… and Ion was out of the question… She settled down and thought quickly… she'd have to wait until Anise returned so the Melodist could go assist the Fonist.

---

Jade looked back for only a second when he realized he had run out of eyesight of the camp. He was near the road, at least. They had camped at a clump of trees just off the crossroads, so it would be simple to find them again. That same cry rose up just right of his location, close to the road. Jade shook his head. Whoever was still wandering on that road in the middle of the night probably didn't deserve to live past the next hour. However, duty was duty, and the colonel was off like a shot to the sound. He stopped and dug his heels into the ground when he realized just who WAS screaming. It was a Fonist; a Fonist who worked with… bandits.

"Look who we caught!" She giggled as the warrior next to her shouldered his glaive. Jade's eyes darkened as he scanned the group. Only two? This wouldn't be too hard… "Why, he looks scrumptious! I wonder what this pretty boy has on him!" Jade didn't answer; he simply removed one of his hands from his pocket and in that free hand formed an elegantly manufactured spear. He crouched slightly, preparing for battle one-handed with the lance.

He rushed forward as the Fonist began to cast, drawing the Fonons within the air around her as she did so. The warrior stood in front of the caster to keep distance between the colonel and the woman, but Jade wasn't feared in all of Kimlasca for nothing. He raised the spear and jabbed it towards the warrior. He blocked with the glaive, but the Necromancer then used the butt of his lance to slam the warrior's head to the ground. The warrior dropped like a brick, and the colonel sailed right over the enemy, driving the lance into the woman's shoulder, causing her to screech in pain.

---

Tear practically leapt up when she heard the screech. She looked down, and sighed a bit. Luke hardly stirred. He wasn't what one would call a warrior… She suddenly heard some rustling in the bushes and whirled around, letting out an unconscious sigh when Anise rushed out, her pigtails bobbing as she ran, "What was that?" She asked, placing her hands on her hips. Before Tear could answer, Anise looked about the camp, and she put on a questioning look, "Wait… where's the colonel…?"

Tear pointed a off towards where the shout came from, "He went to check on that lady. However, because she's still screaming… is Jade okay…?" Tear gave a cry when the Fon Master Guardian rushed off towards where Tear pointed, and the Melodist cried out, "Anise! Wait, where are you going?"

"Where else?" Anise replied with a smirk, turning only slightly to giggle a bit, "I'm going to go help the colonel! You take care of my darling Luke for me, alright?"

"Bu… but Anise!" It was too late for Tear to protest, however, as the girl rushed off, confiding in Tokunaga to assist her in battle. The Oracle Knight hissed, plopping to the ground. Why was SHE stuck here unable to help the others…? She was left all alone to wait for their return as Guy continued to snore quietly a little ways away.

---

The enemy Fonist dropped to the floor, grasping at her shoulder. Jade raised his lance and, with an unflinching hand, brought the tip down in her head, and she twitched only a moment as the last of her life ebbed away. He heard someone rush towards him, and whipped the weapon out, holding his lance up and blocking the dagger strike of one last bandit that was hiding away. The Necromancer glared at the enemy, and knocked the bandit backwards. His Fonic Artes were sealed, but that didn't stop his skills from shining through. The bandit dropped backwards with a cry, practically tripping over the warrior as the man attempted to stand, and Jade took this moment to finish the job.

The bandit gave a cry, "Now, wait a minute, bub! Maybe we can talk this…" but wasn't quick enough to finish it, as Jade slammed his boot on the enemy's chest, dropping him to the floor. He raised his lance again, and didn't hesitate even as his victim smiled. Perhaps he should have, as that moment the warrior brought both of his fists, clasped together, to the colonel's temple. The Necromancer's glasses flew from his head as he sailed three feet, landed on the floor, and then bounced two feet further. He then rolled once or twice over, too dazed to catch himself as he lay on the grass. The lance he dropped disappeared in a flash before it even touched the floor.

Jade hissed, unconsciously reaching out to search for his missing glasses as blood trickled from his temple. The bandit who had nearly been skewered approached the Necromancer, twirling the colonel's glasses in between his fingers, "Looking for something?" He sneered.

"Damn," The warrior muttered, "He's still conscious even now? Let's just slit his throat and get it over with…"

"But with what he did to Helen," The bandit replied, speaking about the Fonist who was creating a pool of blood as they spoke, "I say we beat him 'till he calls for mercy!" The two bandits heard the man on the floor snort despite himself. They looked down at him, and the warrior looked back up at the bandit.

"We kill him quick," He replied, "Who knows if he's got friends running around here. Besides, he's in the military. If we let him live, and our faces will be out there on posters everywhere!"

Jade concentrated a little harder than he usually did, mostly because he was prostrated upon the ground, focusing to draw any Fonons to his hand, "We should just beat the living shit out of him!" The bandit shouted, slamming his fist in his open palm, "The bastard deserves it!"

"Energy Blast!" The bandit gave a shout as Jade turned on his back, releasing the Fonons he had accumulated. The warrior exploded from the inside.

"You piece of shit!" The bandit shouted, raising his dagger. Jade recreated the lance and prepared for the fight.

It never came. The bandit gave a scream as a strange, stitched up monster grabbed him and chucked him away from the Necromancer, "Colonel, are you alright?" Anise asked with a smile as she silently praised her puppet.

Jade stood, wiping dust from his outfit and placing his free hand back in his pocket, "It's just a flesh wound," He replied. Anise smiled at his blood drenched cloths and the red trickle of blood running down his temple.

"Want an apple gel after this?" Anise asked good naturedly as the bandit stood up and rushed back to face them, face screwed up with rage. The colonel didn't answer; he simply began casting again. Anise took that as a "no", and urged Tokunaga back into battle.

"Energy Blast!" Jade bit back a curse as the bandit rolled forward, effectively dodging the Fonon strike. He raised his dagger and slashed straight across the arm of the puppet, and Anise let out a screech of a woman scorned.

"You HORRIBLE HORRIBLE man!" She screamed, "How DARE you hurt Tokunaga!?" The puppet, all smiles, picked up the enemy and slammed him, kicking and screaming, onto the ground. Tokunaga then chucked the bandit away, and Jade immediately predicted the man's landing site. With a quick sprint, he rushed forward and held his spear up, the tip pointing straight at the bandit's heart, "Sonic Spear!" The man's velocity in the air, accompanied by the thrust of the lance, made it easy for the weapon to slide deep into the enemy's heart. Jade's only regret was that now it would be a pain to remove the body without making the lance disappear entirely.

The Necromancer dropped the spear, which disappeared in a flash now that the colonel wasn't touching it. He placed his second hand back into his pocket as Anise let Tokunaga return to its small form. She looked extremely sad, however, as she inspected her puppet's wound and Jade searched the body for his glasses. It was a wonder he was able to find the enemy without them. He grumbled just a bit; the sticky blood on the bandit's hands transferred to the glasses, and now it would be even harder to see with them on rather than without. The Necromancer pocketed them and walked over to the girl as she threw a fit. The Fon Master Guardian was trying not to cry, but the tears sprung to her eyes nonetheless, "Tokunaga… he got hurt… can you fix him, Colonel…?"

Jade was taken aback, "Why me?" He asked after regaining his composure so quickly it was as if he never lost it, "Surely you're not suggesting I know anything about them…"

"I guess not… I just… was hoping…" Anise murmured, hugging the doll close to herself. She continued to sniffle, and Jade, still trying not to get a headache as the fuzzy colors swam before his eyes, stared at the Fon Guardian, "That you could…"

"I…" Jade sighed as he thought about what to do. Finally, he dropped down on one knee to inspect the puppet, "Hmm…" He murmured, crossing his eyes in a vain attempt to get a good look at the tear, "It doesn't seem that… large (it's not that large, is it?). Perhaps I could do something (Once I wash my glasses off)."

Anise blinked, wiping the tears from her eyes, "You… you mean that, Colonel?"

"I said 'Perhaps'," Jade replied, standing up and placing his hands back in his pockets. "For now, we should get back to the camp. You need your sleep."

"I'm not a little girl," Anise whined, her eyebrows knitting after just recently being upturned, "Besides, Tokunaga's stuffing is falling out! This is a dire emergency, Colonel!"

"I understand," Jade said, "But I can't fix anything in this condition. Let's head back to the camp." Anise looked at Tokunaga, who smiled back at her in return. She gave another sob and hugged the puppet, walking quickly to get to the camp faster. Jade followed closely behind her, but the quickened pace and loss of eyesight made him trip over a rather large clump of grass. Anise whirled around and blinked at the Necromancer.

"…Colonel… are you okay…?" She asked.

---

Tear picked herself off the floor when she heard someone approaching, and nodded when she realized it was only Anise and Jade. The girl was burying her face into the puppet's face and Jade was rubbing his nose, wincing from the pain.

"What happened?" She asked of the multiple cries and the blood all over the two. Jade didn't reply, he only walked over to the nearest water skin and promptly popped it open, washing the blood that was caking onto his glasses off. He reapplied his glasses with a grateful sigh, and turned to Tear as Anise rushed to the Necromancer's side, holding the puppet out to the man.

"Nothing important happened," He replied with a smile, "Only a few casualties were sustained," With those words, he motioned towards the wound that Tokunaga obtained after taking the puppet in his hands. Tear blinked at the Necromancer (who was now wearing practically as much red as he was turquoise) and Anise was on the verge of pouting.

"It wasn't 'Not important'!" Anise cried, tugging on Jade's sleeve, "Tokunaga's hurt! Please fix him, Colonel, please!"

"On one condition," The colonel replied, giving the girl a light shove on her back, "You head off to bed. I'll do what I can."

Tear helped Anise off to bed, and turned to Jade as he inspected Tokunaga further now that he could actually see. He eyed her for only a moment, and then returned to his work, "I suggest you go to sleep too. I've taken up enough of your sleep already."

"You've already been awake so long… your shift's up," Tear replied coolly as Jade placed Tokunaga over his lap and reached into the group's pack again. He finally fished out a needle and some thread, which was essential for trips across the wilderness like this. He didn't reply as he placed the needle in his mouth and began pushing the puppet's stuffing back in as tenderly as humanly possible. Tear sat down next to the colonel as he continued pushing the stuffing back in, and finally she spoke, "It's kinda cute, you know," Jade didn't even look at her; too engrossed he was in his work, "The way you take care of Anise. Is there a reason? Do you have a daughter back at home?"

Jade didn't reply, although Tear could tell the reason he had the needle in his mouth was to avoid responding. She smirked when she realized he had stiffened just a bit. Finally, when Jade was sure she wasn't going to try and pry anymore, he took the needle from his mouth and worked feverishly to thread it. When the colonel finally got it through, he finally answered, "No, I don't. Tokunaga's injury would lower Anise's morale, and we simply can't get through the battles without her."

"The way you put it…" Tear murmured as she began to hum, using the Seventh Fonon to heal the damage to Jade's temple. She then stood up and walked over to Ion's side, sitting down next to the Fon Master, "You make it sound like you're only doing this for the sake of the mission…"

"When is anything I do not for the mission?" The Necromancer asked through a sly smile. Tear replied with a good natured smile, stretched a bit, and laid down, deciding that there was no way, even if she could alter the Score, to get that man to quit his job as he worked busily on the puppet, deep into the night.

---

"Luke, wake up," Tear grumbled, nudging the duke's son as he curled into a ball to keep the sunlight from shining on his eyes.

"Five more minutes!" He growled. Tear rolled her eyes as Ion patted some rice together to make balls and Guy started a fire during the cold morning, chuckling at his master's childishness. Giving up, the Melodist went to Anise's side, and gently nudged the girl.

"Hey, hey Anise. It's morning. Wake up," She said. The Fon Master Guardian seemed to have been sleeping fitfully. It was probably because she didn't have Tokunaga to snuggle with that night.

"Huh…?" Anise asked as she sat up, yawning loudly, "Oh… Good morning, Tear." Tear smiled and answered with a "good morning" of her own.

"Uhggg…" Luke grumbled, dragging himself up and rubbing his eyes. He blinked at Ion's breakfast, and groaned, "Come on!" He whined, dropping back to the ground in an attempt to go back to sleep, "Can't we eat something EDIBLE for once in our lives?"

"Master Luke…" Guy began a lecture, but suddenly gave a cry and froze in terror as Anise barreled past him, getting WAY too close for his comfort.

"Luke, Darling!" Anise was up like a rocket to her "True Love's" side, grabbing at the young man's shoulder, "Tell me what kind of stuff you eat at your home!" Tear giggled as Anise bugged Luke into waking back up.

"I'm up! I'm up!" Luke cried, bringing himself back up and hissing. When he finally dragged himself back to the middle of the camp to slowly grab a ball and bite into it, he began to speak to Guy a bit as the day progressed. As the duke's son ate the food and the camp returned to relevant normalcy, Anise finally figured out a slight problem.

"Tear!" She cried, turning to the Melodist with a worried look in her eyes, "Where's the colonel? Where's Tokunaga?"

The Oracle Knight smiled knowingly and pointed a little ways away, on the stump that Anise had last seen Jade on. He was slumped over, looking in all respects, like a corpse. Anise gave a squeak and rushed to his side, shaking him rather forcefully, "Colonel! Colonel, are you okay? Colonel?"

The Necromancer bit back a cry as the needle he held in his hand was jerked enough to stab into his thumb, and he jolted upright with a grunt that sounded much like a growl. He practically leapt up from his seated position, turning quickly to the person who had touched him with a glare that made Anise take a step back in surprise. The moment he realized who had touched him, however, his eyes softened, "Oh… Anise…" He said sleepily, his usual smile appearing on his lips, "Good morning."

"Colonel… you didn't get any sleep…" Anise murmured, staring into Jade's red, puffy eyes. Were those rings under his eyes? Her face wrinkled in worriment, "You did it all for me…?"

"Did…" He looked down at the bleeding thumb, and then at the puppet in his lap, and he immediately remembered why he was so sleepy this morning. As Jade stared at Tokunaga in his lap, Anise's eyes followed his, and she gave a squeal of delight.

"You did it! You did it, Colonel!" She proclaimed, picking up the puppet, which smiled back at her as if to say, "I missed you, Anise!" She looked at the small tear that had been meticulously sewn shut. The stitches were so narrow it hardly seemed like Tokunaga had even been touched, "Colonel… he's all back to normal…" She looked up at the Necromancer as he stood and attempted to walk over to have some breakfast, rubbing his temple, which was beginning to hurt from awakening too quickly without proper sleep.

He wasn't able to reach the rice balls, however, as he was attacked from the waist by the young woman, who hugged him around his belt and popped one of her legs up, one of her hands holding Tokunaga's arm carefully, "Thank you," Anise cried, her sobs muffled by the still bloody military outfit, "Thank you so much… Colonel…"

Jade stiffened only slightly, trying to keep some air of dignity, attempting to keep from looking into the eyes of the others, who were smiling at the scene (all except Luke, who was too busy grumbling about how the food wasn't on par with his usual palette, although he stored the scene away to torment the colonel with later). When Anise finally released Jade, she wiped her tears and wrapped Tokunaga around her neck. The puppet smiled at the Necromancer as if to say "Thank you."

Jade stood in place, still stiffened, "You're welcome," He said in Anise's direction according to protocol, and she rushed off to grab some breakfast. Once everyone's eyes were off of Jade, he smiled happily, "You're very welcome… Anise…" and without another word, he walked forward to join the others and get some food of his own. He was going to have to remember to be more careful around the enemies nowadays. The group just didn't have time to spend mending that puppet after every battle. He smiled in Anise's direction. _Although…_ He thought to himself as he bit into the ball of rice, _With the way she smiled… I wouldn't mind fixing him up to see that look again…_

Over the course of the entire adventure, Jade had to stitch Tokunaga up a total of 147 times. Every single time he fixed the puppet, the colonel's smile widened more than the last time he did so. He wasn't smiling because of the work he was doing, he smiled because of Anise's look of pure joy, and her wide eyes of adoration, when he handed the puppet back to her, "Thank you so much, Colonel!" She would say every time, giving him a hug around his waist, "You're the best!"

Although Jade told Anise to think nothing of it, he would smile and watch her rush of with the puppet, and would actually dwell on her words. He had heard those words from friends and enemies alike, and although he KNEW all of them spoke the truth, Anise's made him smile more than any others'. SHE didn't speak them out of fear of his prowess and skill, but out of thankfulness and happiness. She spoke what was truly on her mind. Colonel Jade Curtiss the Necromancer of the Third Division Malkuth Imperial Forces wouldn't have it any other way…

**The End!**

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Yay it's the end! Hope you guys enjoyed it.

Please please PLEASE review and tell me if you liked it...**  
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